World Turtle News, 09/03/2019

70 rare Assam temple turtle hatchlings released in ‘Mini Kaziranga’

70 rare and endangered freshwater turtles of two species; the black softshell (Nilssonia nigricans) and indian softshell turtles (Nilssonia gangetica), were released yesterday in the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary. These turtles were bred in the ponds of two temples in Assam, an area of India with high turtle biodiversity.

The restocking of these two species was carried out under a joint programme between various organisations which manage the temples and NGO’s. The two NGO’s involved were Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) and Help Earth.

The WTN Editor

Liam is a zoologist and conservationist from the UK and is currently studying for his Ph.D in Ireland. Liam obtained his M.S. in Zoology with Conservation from Bangor University, Wales in 2018. He has always had a fascination with the natural world and tries to experience as much of it as possible, whether that’s through his travels, work or wildlife photography. After knowing the career path he wanted to take in zoology/conservation, Liam then took a keen interest in reptiles, particularly turtles and tortoises after starting to research and read about them in his own time and during his degree.

Through a lot of luck, Liam is now studying marine turtles for his Ph.D with the main focus on marine turtle fibropapillomatosis (FP). FP is a tumor forming disease afflicting all seven marine turtle species but affects green turtles (Chelonia mydas) most. He studies in Limerick, Ireland but also gets to venture to Florida occasionally for his research.

Liam also keeps a leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius) and common musk turtle (Sternotherus odoratus) at home, which forms one of his hobbies. He also is an amateur wildlife photographer.

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